Prevalence and Correlates of Maternal Anemia in Rural Sidama, Southern Ethiopia

In order to assess the prevalence and correlates of prenatal anemia, a survey was conducted among 700 randomly selected pregnant women in rural Sidama, Southern Ethiopia. The prevalences of anemia, Iron Deficiency (ID) and ID anemia were 31.6%, 17.4% and 8.7%, respectively. The burden of anemia was significantly high among illiterates, women devoid of self-income, lowlanders, multiparas and women aged 25-34 years. Women who weren't on iron-folate supplementation had 1.90 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.14-3.19) times increased odds of anemia. Anemia was associated with ID, zinc deficiency and elevated C-reactive protein with odds ratio of 2.46 (95%CI: 1.63-3.73), 2.29 (95%CI: 1.62-3.23) and 1.98 (95%CI: 1.12-3.47) respectively; however, it was not associated with vitamin A deficiency. Though ID was a significant correlate of anemia, only 11.8% of anemia was attributable to it. Zinc, iron and vitamin A deficiencies did not show synergistic interaction in associating with anemia.